Report on 5th October QSG of NSW talk about Friendship Quilts

On the 5th October 2013 at the Powerhouse Museum, Karen Fail spoke about Friendship Quilts. 

She gave an update of the quilts featured in her book "Between Friends - Quilts to Share". Below is Lyn Shayler with her friendship quilt that was included in Karen's book.

A large group of quilters from Camden Country Quilters Guild came along to show and share their stories of their friendship quilts.

 And here are some of the other photographs that were taken on the day -

Lois Cook with her friendship quilt

Lyn Hewitt with her quilt made by the Quilters Guild of NSW committee members when she was President

Trudy Brodie with her Japan/Australia Round Robin quilt

Another friendship quilt where the dolls were made by various friends

An antique friendship quilt

Registration for the 2014 20th Anniversary QSGA Seminar is open now

You can now register to attend the 2104 20th Anniversary Quilt Study Group of Australia Seminar. The seminar will be held in Sydney on Sunday the 6th and Monday the 7th of July 2014, on the weekend before the Sydney Quilt Show opens. The venue is the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour in Sydney. The registration fee for both days is $A175, it will cost $A40 to attend the Quilt Uncoverings only on the Monday, and $A59 to attend the seminar dinner on the Sunday night.

The booking form contains both payment information and a summary of the schedule on both days as well as the Seminar Dinner.

Click here to download the 2014 QSGA Seminar registration form, the speaker schedule and other important information.

If you have any questions, please follow the instructions on the form.

Marie-Christine Flocard Lecture on Toiles

The only lecture in Australia that Marie-Christine Flocard, the author of three C&T quilt books, will give is on Sunday the 2nd of February 2014 in Sydney at Quiltsmith. The topic is 'French Toiles de Jouy - the History and Printing Process in the 18th Century '.

Bookings must be made with the shop (phone 02 9550 4947). All details about the lecture can be found at

 http://www.quiltsmith--australia.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/french-toile-lecture-marie-christine.html

2014 20th Anniversary Seminar of The Quilt Study Group of Australia Seminar on 6th and 7th July 2014

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the formation of the Quilt Study Group of Australia, the next QSG of A seminar will be held from 9.30am to 5pm on Sunday the 6th and Monday the 7th of July 2014 - the weekend before the 2014 Sydney Quilt Show opens.

Seven speakers will talk about their areas of quilting interest on Sunday the 6th July,  the first day of the seminar. Our keynote speaker is Di Ford (Vic), who has recently published with Quiltmania her book of 16 quilt patterns - 'Primarily Quilts'. Gail Chalker (Qld), Nonie Fisher (NSW/Vic), Jennifer Palmer (NSW/Qld), Chris Jones (Qld), Michelle Watters (NSW) and Jessica Wheelahan (NSW) are the speakers who have all agreed to talk to us on topics near to their hearts.

We will hold a twentieth anniversary celebration buffet dinner at the Novotel Sydney on Darling Harbour hotel on Sunday night. This will be at extra cost to attendees and their friends ($59 a head, drinks at own cost). We are very pleased to announce that our special dinner speaker is Margaret Rolfe AM. Margaret was one of the founders of the Quilt Study Group of Australia and is known worldwide for her teaching, lectures, quiltmaking, and quilting books and patterns. At the dinner there will also be an auction to raise funds to support future seminars by the Quilt Study Group of Australia.

On Monday the 7th July, four prominent Australian quilters/quilt collectors, Trish Bloomfield, Melinda Smith, Carolyn Sullivan and Brigitte Giblin, have agreed to present to us their quilts of interest and talk about them in a Quilt Uncoverings day.

The fee to attend both days of the seminar is $175. The fee to attend just the Quilt Uncoverings day on the Monday is $40.

The venue for the seminar is the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour in Sydney. Registration will be when the Museum opens, at 9.30am on both days.

Tea and coffee will be available all day for all attendees, but lunch will not be provided at the seminar. Next door to the Maritime Museum there are more than 40 eateries at the Harbourside Shopping Centre to choose from or you can bring your own lunch. All day parking at a flat rate of $13 is is available at the Harbourside Car Park, located on Murray Street under the Novotel Sydney on Darling Harbour Hotel.

Click here to download the 2014 QSGA Seminar Registration form, the speaker schedule and other important information.

Saturday 5th October 2013 – Karen Fail talk about Friendship Quilts to the QSG of NSW at The Powerhouse Museum

Friendship quilts provide a lasting memory of shared lives and are a link with quilt makers of the past. Karen Fail, author of Between Friends - Quilts to Share, will talk about the early history of friendship quilts and their role in the lives of quilt makers.

One of Karen's friendship quilts is ‘Charming Stars’. After Karen's term on the guild committee as President ended, she was presented with a wonderful friendship quilt, Charming Stars (172cm x 220cm) (see photo). 'Knowing my busy schedule', Karen explained, 'the committee had not only sewn the blocks together to make the quilt top, but had basted the quilt ready for quilting.'  The quilt is a constant reminder not only of the exciting time she had working for the guild, but of the people who shared her enthusiasm for quilting and became her friends. She will always treasure it.

You are invited to bring along your own friendship or group/collaborative quilts to show the Quilt Study Group of NSW members and friends. These could be made from birthday blocks, to commemorate a special event in your life or made as a Round Robin. Be prepared to tell the story of your special friendship quilt.

The talk will be held on Saturday the 5th October 2013 in The Target Theatre, The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney from 2pm to 4.30pm. Fees to come to the talk are: Guild members $5, non-Guild members $10. There is free entry to the Powerhouse Museum and afternoon tea is provided. 

Report on the QSG of NSW tour of the Caroline Simpson Library and Research Collection in June 2013

On the 5^th and 21^st of June 2013, we visited the Caroline Simpson Library and Research Collection at the Mint Building in Macquarie Street in the centre of Sydney. The collection was established in 1984 and is owned and managed by the Sydney Living Museums (formerly known as the Historic Houses Trust). It is funded by a legacy from Caroline Simpson, a daughter of Sir Warwick Fairfax. As their librarian Matt explained to us, they are interested in how things were used in the home, not just in decoration or design.

 The focus of the collection is on the history of houses, interiors and gardens in NSW since 1788 and it contains a wonderful selection of books, trade catalogues, design materials, photographs and textiles. We saw some of the materials from demolished buildings, e.g. a column top from ‘Subiaco’ in Rydalmere, and a light fitting from one of the GSDA houses built by Walter Burley Griffin in Castlecrag.

 Among the textiles we saw upstairs was a beautiful lace bedspread acquired in France in the 1920s, sample books of laces, curtain trims and blinds, a pillow cover made from velvet ribbons in a log cabin design, and a 19th century lady’s needlework box made from ivory.

 We all thought that the tile and wallpaper catalogues provided some great inspiration for our future quilts.

 Among the treasures we were shown in the storage area was a set of silk curtains that decorated both of Patrick White’s Sydney houses. We also saw curtains from the ‘Australian Artists Original’ range of fabrics that John Kaldor commissioned from John Coburn in 1962.

In the drawer storage, we were shown some 1880s blinds that came from ‘Camelot’ in Camden, and a set of 1860s bed hangings from Thomas Mort’s ‘Green Oaks’ in Darling Point.

It was fascinating to see the upholstery from a Rouse Hill Farm chair that showed the progression of time and taste between 1870 and 1930 via seven layers of fabric covering the seat.

 And the incomplete silk quilt top of simple four patches pieced over papers made at the end of the nineteenth century was just beautiful.

The collection is open for anyone to visit and use as a resource, but if you can not visit in person, they also have some online resources accessible on their website - http://www.hht.net.au/collections/library.

20th Anniversary Seminar of the Quilt Study Group of Australia in June 2014

In 1994 the Quilt Study Group of Australia was formed by Margaret Rolfe AM in Canberra. The original committee was based and run in the ACT and was subsequently handed over to Annette Gero FRSA, who formed a committee to run it from NSW. Currently Karen Fail (former Quilters Guild of NSW president) is the convenor.

Since it began, the Quilt Study Group of Australia has worked as an independent body to further its aims ('to promote interest and research into quilting in Australia') by publicising quilting events around the country. Originally this was done via a newsletter but now it is done via this blog. In addition the QSG of A funds the running of a seminar every 2-3 years in different states of Australia. See http://australianquiltstudygroups.blogspot.com.au/p/the-quilt-study-group-of-australia.html for the full history of the group and details on how to apply for this funding to run future seminars.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the group, the Quilt Study Group of Australia will hold the next Seminar in Sydney, New South Wales. The Seminar will be on the weekend before the Sydney Quilt Show. On Sunday 15th June 2014 the Seminar itself will run, and it will be followed by a Quilts Uncovering day on Monday 16th of June 2014 . An interesting program of speakers is currently being developed and will be publicised soon. At the Uncoverings, the owners of four quilt collections will bring along their quilts to talk about and show us. There will also be a dinner on Sunday night, the first night of the seminar. As details become available, they will be published on this blog.

If you are interested in attending and would like details sent to you as they become available, please send your contacts details (name, contact phone number, address and email) to Karen Fail – karenvfail @gmail. com (remove the space before emailing) or 17 Peter Close, Hornsby Heights, 2077, Australia.